Volunteers turned out on a beautiful April morning in 2006 to plant the community rain garden at Fairville Park.

Located below the southwest corner of the parking lot, the garden is designed to receive storm water runoff from the parking area. It is filled with native plants that will absorb and clean the flowing water, while allowing more time for it to infiltrate the soil, recharging the ground water. The rain garden is a West Hanover Environmental Advisory Council project. With approval from the Board of Supervisors, the EAC worked closely with West Hanover Parks & Recreation Board members and Parks & Recreation Coordinator Dixie Fesig, to include it in the Fairville Park Master Plan. Rebecca Wertime from the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay (ACB) led a rain garden planning workshop that drew many interested township residents. Partial funding was provided by ACB and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, under a PA DCNR grant to improve the health of watersheds within the Kittatinny Ridge. The Kittatinny Ridge, better known locally as Blue Mountain, is designated by Audubon Pennsylvania as a PA Important Bird Area. The cooperative effort involved many from the local community: West Hanover Township Public Works Director Harold Harmon provided support, along with a number of local businesses: Richard W. Bolt, P.E. of Bolt Engineering (technical calculations and drawings), Mr. Bobs Subway (lunch for volunteers), and Yingst Construction Company (back hoe work). Penn State Master Gardener Jim Egenreider provided valuable advice and assistance. John Carricato and Hershey Gardens, and Jan Getgood of Meadowood Nursery were sources for native plants. Drannon Buskirk and Harrisburg Area Community College donated stone for the rock garden area. The EAC thanks all these people, and especially the many hard-working volunteers who cheerfully spent their sunny Saturday digging in. Members and friends of the EAC have continued to maintain the rain garden, with weeding and replanting days, usually in the spring and fall. Additional information may be obtained by contacting the EAC at 717-652-4841.